


TSSM Day 3

by MaybeDefinitely404



Series: Soulmate September [3]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Food, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:14:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28863132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaybeDefinitely404/pseuds/MaybeDefinitely404
Summary: You have an animal that only you and your soulmate can see.Also known as, the three times Roman tries to catch his soul animal and fails spectacularly, and the one time it works.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders
Series: Soulmate September [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2116602
Comments: 2
Kudos: 71





	TSSM Day 3

**Author's Note:**

> Word Count: 3k

**1**

The first time Roman saw his soul animal, he was having coffee with Patton at a little cafe near the latter’s house, the man talking animatedly about the newest litter of puppies he’d gotten to meet at work that day. The vet was brimming with excitement, describing the colors of the small litter, when a flash of blue caught Roman’s eye. As much as he hated not giving his undivided attention to the animal stories (he not-so-secretly loved them as much as Patton did), it was enough to draw his focus away for a moment. He glanced to the side, just past the fence of the cafe’s patio, but didn’t see the cause of the distracting light, so he shrugged internally and turned back to the man.

“-and the runt was so _small_ , Roman! I mean, I know it’s the _runt_ , and it’s _supposed_ to be small, but I could pick it up in the palm of my hand and it just _snuggled_ into my fingers, and it had the cutest brown patch on his back that looked like a heart-”

There it was again, just a faintest flash of blue in the corner of his eye. His head whipped to the source before it could disappear, and his jaw dropped. This time, his eyes locked on the cause, blinking rapidly, but it stayed, stubborn.

“Roman, everything okay?”

“You don’t see it?”

“See what? _Oh_ , the cat across the street?! Oh my gosh, look at _hiiiim_ -”

Roman’s vision flitted towards the sidewalk for a brief moment, and yes, there was a fat tabby sitting on the rocks in front of a house, but it wasn’t what had caught his attention. On their end of the street, mere feet in front of the patio gate, sat what Roman had first thought to just be a large cat. Upon closer inspection, though, he took in the small ears that were too rounded instead of pointy, the longer neck, the circular eyes, and it’s just overall stockiness that made him realize this animal was definitely not supposed to be in a suburban neighbourhood.

It was also glowing, and he figured that wasn’t normal either. Blue light emanated off its black fur, eyes shining like two luminescent glow sticks.

“It’s right there, Patton! How do you not…” _Oh_!

Patton gasped, “Is it your soul animal? Oh, oh, what is it?”

“I’m not… totally sure. It’s some kind of cat.” Roman sat up a little higher, trying to peer over the gate without scaring the little animal. It stared up at him with huge eyes, tail swishing along the ground lazily. 

“Describe it to me, maybe I’ll know!”

“It’s a black cat, but sort of… bulky? With big paws, and the ears are more far apart than a normal cat. And they’re smaller, and round.”

“Is it a baby?”

“I mean, probably? But it’s bigger than Cookie, for sure.”

Patton grinned at the comparison to his corgi, wiggling lightly in his seat. “Is it a panther? It sounds like a regular panther cub.”

He fought the urge to slap his forehead. _Of course._ “I’m an idiot.”

“You’re just in shock, it’s okay! Why don’t you try to follow it?” 

As if on cue, the little cub stood up and stretched, claws scratching lightly on the concrete. His tail swished again as he stood upright, giving a look that clearly said _‘c’mon, let’s go!’_. 

“Are you sure, Pat? We’re in the middle of-”

“I know you want to. You have that look in your eye. Now go, and text me what happens, okay? They just refilled the baking display case, I’m not leaving here anytime soon.”

With a small thanks, Roman power-walked through the coffee shop, ignoring the huffs of the people he pushed past. By the time he exited the cafe, the panther was standing outside the door, unblinking. As they made eye contact, the panther turned and took off down the sidewalk, leaving Roman no choice but to run after it.

 _I must look insane,_ he thought forlornly, as he raced down the street after the blue misty trail left behind by the animal only he could see. It still interacted with the world, weaving between people’s legs and under display racks, but no one was bothered by the wild cat under them, barely coming up to their knees. 

It whipped around a corner into a gap between two stores, and Roman followed seconds later, grabbing the wall to turn sharply into the alley.

“Son of a…”

The alley was empty; no dumpsters, no garbage bag, and most importantly, no small black cat. A rapidly disappearing trail of blue was all Roman had before it too was gone, blown away by the breeze and leaving him standing alone. He swore under his breath, only now realizing how out of breath he was, and made his way begrudgingly back to the cafe. He kept his eyes open, looking for any hint of a blue glint or black fur, but the cub didn’t reappear. Patton patted his hand comfortingly, offering the dejected man one of his pastries, and promised him that it happened to many people. He’d see the soul animal again, he just needed to be patient.

**2**

The second time was just as infuriating as the first. He was walking through the park with Logan, a little grassy plot of land with a curving walkway, debating over useless little nothings like they tended to do. The two hadn’t always been as close as they were now, starting off with Patton as a mutual friend and pretty much not standing the sight of the other, until Patton’s childhood dog had died and he’d been a mess. The two had had to learn to work together quickly to keep Patton in one piece, and ended up making a pretty good team. A stubborn, quick witted, impossibly egotistical team, but a team nonetheless. 

Logan was just wrapping up his stance on the origin of constellation myths when Roman froze and grabbed Logan’s arm, pointing across the field to the panther cub sitting in a pool of its own blue light, scrubbing its paw over its head to wash it. 

“Roman, there’s nothing there.”

“Not to you, Pocket Protector. It’s my soul animal.”

“The panther?”

Roman raised an eyebrow but refused to look away from the cub in case it vanished again, “Patton told you?”

“He couldn’t _stop_ talking about it. He showed me pictures of baby panthers all night.”

“Logan.”

“Yes?”

“I’m gonna follow it.”

Logan heaved a deep sigh but waved in the general direction Roman was looking, “Of course you are. Have a pleasant time.”

Roman hummed and patted Logan’s arms before jogging across the field, accidentally interrupting a game of frisbee. He ignored the expletive thrown his way and continued to approach the cat, who had stopped it’s incessant grooming and was glaring at him. Was it upset with him for some reason? Did soul animals have the capability to be mad?

Just as he got within a meter of it, the panther bolted into the adjacent woods.

“Not again,” Roman hissed under his breath, rolling his eyes before taking off after the cub. The trail through the woods was in the process of being overgrown, the path untouched for years due to the abundance of bugs and spiders in the trees, so the light trail was easier to follow through his steadily darkening surroundings.

Of course, that didn’t mean he would catch up, and he turned back ten minutes later as all traces of his soul animal vanished from sight. Logan was sitting smugly on a bench when he returned, slumping next to him with a sigh of defeat. He groaned loudly enough to turn the heads of the people walking past them.

“This sucks.”

“Elaborate.”

“It keeps running away. I can’t keep up with it.”

“…Have you tried _not chasing it?_ ”

Roman gave him an incredulous look. “If I don’t follow it, it can’t lead me to my soulmate. How do you claim to be the smart one of this group?”

The man huffed indignantly, crossing his arms. “I _am_ the smart one of the group. I’m saying, it’s essentially a large _cat_. Let it approach you instead of running after it.”

He hated to admit that it kind of made sense… so he didn’t. “Whatever, Teach. Let’s keep walking, it’s almost dinner time and I’m starving.”

**3**

Roman had only seen the soul animal outside before, so seeing the baby panther sitting in his hallway after he stepped out of the shower was enough to startle a _very_ manly shriek out of him. The cat had the gall to look almost amused, blue essence lighting up the hall.

“What are you doing in my house?” Roman hissed, suddenly all too aware that he was just wearing a towel around his waist, even if it was only a cat. It didn’t respond, duh, but merely gave it’s tail a sassy swish and stood up, toddling into the bedroom at the end of the hall. 

“You’ve given me a run for my money. Quite literally,” The man continued, following the cat into his bedroom, where it had made itself comfy on his rumpled blankets. “Do you shed? You better not shed on my blankets.”

The cub stared with those round, unblinking blue eyes, before letting out a small chuff and kneading the blankets under its paws.

“Don’t rip them up either!” Roman took a hurried step forward without thinking and the cat was across the room in a flash, the blue trail behind it the only indicator that it hadn’t actually teleported. It let out a low hiss, or the closest thing to a hiss that a baby could make, tail tucked between its legs. 

“Alright, alright!” He yelped, stumbling backwards. His hands slapped around his bed wildly until he found a pair of discarded sweatpants, pulling them on hurriedly without breaking eye contact. He threw the towel out the door into the hall, intending to pick it up later but knowing he’d probably forget. Logan’s instructions from a couple days before echoed in his head. It was just a cat, right? Just a slightly bigger cat. He could work with that.

Making sure to keep his movements slow and steady, he lowered himself to the floor, sitting criss cross and grabbing his phone from the nightstand where it had been charging.

“Let’s just chill, okay? How does that sound? Just you, me, and TikTok?”

It continued to eye him warily but it’s tail was untucked, so he considered that a good sign as he opened the app. It took a while, too many TikToks to count, before the lump of fur took a cautious step forward, eyes still unblinking. Roman felt his heart race but didn’t so much as flinch, unwilling to lose their slow progress. Another swipe, another video, another slow step forward became their rhythm until the panther was standing next to his legs, snuffling his hair tentatively. The breaths tickled Roman’s neck and he held back a giggle. 

One coaster-sized paw rested on his thigh and he sucked in a breath. It felt real, the heavy weight of the limb exactly what he would expect from an actual animal, the light dimmed to an almost nonexistent hum. Then, in one fluid motion, the cub jumped into his lap, curling up in a ball in the centre of his crossed legs.

Roman froze, thoughts flying between _oh my gosh it’s going to bite me_ and _Patton is going to freak._ But it didn’t bite him, or even knead it’s sharp claws into his sweatpants, instead snuggling that much more into his lap and closing its eyes contently. He let one hand drop from his phone to the head of the panther cub, astounded by the insane softness and the fact that his hand barely covered the top of the thing’s head, running his hand down to its back. A low rumble almost made him drop his phone before he realized it was purring so loudly he could feel it in his chest. 

“Are we good now, Bagheera?” The panther didn’t acknowledge his words except for a small flick of its ear. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

When Roman woke up the next morning in his bed, with no recollection of moving to it, Bagheera was gone. He couldn’t deny his immediate disappointment.

**+1**

“You got to cuddle with a panther? That’s so _unfair_!”

Roman had been right; Patton was freaking. He was telling him the story of last night with the promise to not tell Logan, god forbid the nerd go about getting a bigger ego. Admitting his advice had worked? Hard pass. 

“I did, and it was amazing.”

“So _unfair_!” Patton murmured again, though he never stopped grinning. “I wish I could see it.”

“Me too, Padre. Me too.”

The park was quieter today than it had been the time with Logan, the frisbee players and screaming kids replaced with an elderly couple walking a tiny chihuahua and a few lone people sitting on the benches. The air was colder today too, almost nearing autumn, so the trees had just started their magnificent transformation into startling reds and golden yellows. It was the best time of year, hands down. 

A small _mrrp_ by Roman’s feet caught his attention and he almost tripped with how fast he stopped, nearly pulling Patton down with him. 

“Bagheera!”

“You named your soul animal? Is that really the smartest-”

“C’mon, Pat. We _bonded_. We’re pals now.”

“Well… I’ll let it go because it’s a Disney reference.”

“Didn’t you name _your_ soul animal?”

“Don’t bring Walnut into this.”

Roman dropped to one knee, scratching behind the panther’s ears and earning a loud purr. “What’s up, buddy?”

“You look real funny, petting the air like that.”

“Yeah, well,” He scratched down Bagheera’s neck, and the cub headbutted his knee in appreciation, “I’m petting a panther, so I’ll make the sacrifice.” 

Suddenly the cat decided that was enough petting and turned abruptly, trotting down the path ahead of them. It gave a look over its shoulder when Roman didn’t follow and mewled in annoyance, tail swishing. 

“I think I’m supposed to follow.” He turned to Patton, a wave of guilt hitting him, “I’m sorry I keep running off, but I just…”

“Fourth time’s the charm?”

“Maybe?” Bagheera chuffed again, looking ready to leave Roman if he didn’t hurry up. 

Patton gave him a dopey grin, “Go ahead. Logan’s place is just down the block, I’ll go there until you’re done. Text me this time, Ro!”

And with a wordless smile, Roman turned and jogged after Bagheera, catching up to the grumpy animal with a breathy laugh. “Not gonna run away this time, huh?”

The cat turned and kept walking, keeping up a steady pace that for once, Roman didn’t have trouble following. It gave a small hiss as they passed the elders and their dog, but they didn’t so much as blink in the cat’s direction, and otherwise the trip was silent. He was beginning to think that maybe Bagheera had just wanted to go for a fun little walk when his pace sped up again, now focused on something in front of him.

“I thought we were past the running, you speed demon!”

It didn’t last long though, as Bagheera ran straight up to one of the park benches and leapt onto it with no hesitation, and the boy sitting on it immediately brightened. He closed the sketchbook he was drawing in and reached out a tender hand, letting the cat sniff it before it butted against his hand in a clear demand for pets.

“Welcome back, Stump. Where have you been?”

“You can see it too?” Roman blurted out before he could stop himself and the boy flinched violently, dropping the book onto the ground. “Sorry, sorry!” He stooped to pick up the book and handed it back, looking up into large dark eyes. Eyes that were very reminiscent of a certain feline he’d grown fond of, and he was harshly reminded of the way it had hissed in fear at his confident approach the night before. 

_Bagheera, you sly devil._

In a move that was so very un-Roman-like, he plopped onto the lawn from his awkward half kneel, sitting cross legged. Bagheera gave him a smug look- could cats _look_ smug? This one sure did- and disappeared in a poof of bright blue light.

“So, you named it too?”

The man was still scrutinizing him, but with far less fear than the first contact had been. Looking down at someone greatly decreases their potential threat. “Yeah. What did you call it?”

“Bagheera.”

He snorted lightly, hand flying up to cover his mouth, “From the Jungle Book?”

“One and the same. What about you?”

“Stump. Like… like Patrick Stump. It was the first thing I thought of, and it kind of stuck. I don’t know.”

“Ah, so you’re an emo?” 

The man was suddenly on the defensive, lifting his sketchbook in front of his chest like a shield between them. His eyes narrowed, and Roman could perfectly picture Bagheera’s angrily swishing tail.

“No, no, it’s cool! I’m a theatre kid, we’re basically cousins.”

“Ew. Don’t say that when we’re…”

Soulmates. The word hung in the air, unspoken but known between the two of them. Roman sighed, a pleased little sound, before glancing at the spot they’d last seen the panther cub.

“You think we’ll ever see the little bastard again?”

“I mean, some do. I hope so, though. I kind of… grew attached to it.”

“Me too,” Roman smirked, holding out a hand to the shy boy, “I’m Roman.”

He left it there, unbothered as his soulmate took a grounding breath, watching it cautiously, before gingerly shaking the hand. _Let him work at his own pace._

“I’m Virgil.”


End file.
